Buffalo CloudStation Pro Duo Network Storage Review. Page 5

Cloud technologies, a very popular topic these days, already started penetrating the SOHO data storage market. Buffalo Technology tried to combine a NAS system with Cloud. Let’s see what the result was.

Performance

We tested our CloudStation Pro Duo with Intel NASPT 1.7.1 using the default Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 disks as well as Western Digital’s Caviar Black WD5001AALS disks that we traditionally use in our NAS reviews. The CloudStation Pro Duo supports only two disk configurations: individual disks and RAID1. We did not change the NAS’s default settings but only created a shared folder and a user account. The first diagram shows the performance of the NAS with its default Seagate disks.

The peak read speed is 50-55 MB/s in single-threaded mode. Writing isn’t fast, either, at about 30 MB/s. Other NASes with similar hardware perform better. The data-transfer speed lowers by about 10% in most of the usage scenarios when the disks are combined into a RAID1.

With these disks, the speed of reading multiple large files is even higher than that of reading a single file. Anyway, the CloudStation Pro Duo is just average in performance. On the other hand, you won’t find a difference from a top-performance NAS if you’ve got but few devices on your home network and do not need to transfer gigabytes of data. As for streaming HD video to your PC or player, this NAS can easily provide the required speed with multiple streams.

Conclusion

Compared to the LinkStation series from the same brand, the CloudStation differs in software only. The cloud model is less interesting as a typical NAS. It lacks FTP support and domain integration. It offers fewer disk configuration options and its support for peripheral devices is limited. Despite the same hardware platform, its speed is lower than that of the LinkStation. Thus, the only advantage the CloudStation can offer is its Pogoplug integration. It means the NAS can be easily accessed from the internet via a web browser or special client software for mobile gadgets.

As a home NAS, the CloudStation Pro Duo can provide but basic storage in Windows and Mac OS networks. Fortunately, the integrated BitTorrent client hasn’t been cut off. It is still fast and handy.

The exterior design and quality manufacturer are good. The hardware platform is fast enough for this class of NASes. The single downside is that the CloudStation Pro Duo has only one USB port and does not work with USB hubs. The preinstalled disks make the NAS ready to work right out of the box.

Take note that this model costs considerably less than its LinkStation counterpart. So, if you only need to store your files on a network disk, download torrents and be able to access that information via the internet, the CloudStation Pro Duo is going to be an affordable and optimal solution.